Your 2026 Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide for Day 1 Races

by Roy Brindley, 9 March 2026

Day 1 of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival features 112 races across seven races, with the Champion Hurdle being the headline contest.

Kopek Des Bordes, pictured at Cheltenham on Sunday, is our Arkle Novices’ Chase selection. © Getty Images

Key Facts:

• Cheltenham attracts 112 horses for its festival’s opening day.
• Bookmaker odds suggest Irish-trained horses will claim 17 of the festival’s 28 races.
• Willie Mullins is the clear favourite to win the most races at the festival.
• Can historical stats be used to identify winners in 2026?

The wait is almost over; the 2026 Cheltenham Festival kicks off on Tuesday with its traditional curtain-raising contest, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. 112 horses are set to contest the day’s seven races; a dozen horses will run in the opener.

Old Park Star heads the betting for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, a race that creates the famous ‘Cheltenham roar’ as the tapes go up. Trained by Nicky Henderson, a fourth successive success for the market principle would see Britain draw first blood in the battle for ‘top country’ honours.

Ireland are overwhelming favourites to win the Prestbury Cup – the award given to the most successful nation at the festival. Online betting sites predict the Emerald Isle will win that battle by a 17-11 scoreline. Willie Mullins’ is quoted on 1/4 odds to be the festival’s most successful trainer.

Willie Mullins has 12 runners in five of Tuesday’s races, where his leading hopes are Kopek Des Bordes in the Arkle and Lossiemouth in the day’s feature contest, the Champion Hurdle. Compatriot Gordon Elliott has 11 runners, with Brighterdaysahead appearing to be his best hope for a winner.

Our Guide to the Races on Day 1 of Cheltenham Festival 2026

1.20 pm – The Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

Willie Mullins has won this contest nine times in the past 13 years, and only one winner in that period started at double-digit odds. With the bulk of previous winners coming from the top three in the betting, the field can be narrowed down to Old Park Star, Mullins’ Mighty Park, and the Joseph O’Brien-trained Talk The Talk.

Impressively winning all three starts since joining from Paul Nicholls, and officially the highest rated runner in the race, Old Park Star appears the obvious choice. His trainer has won this race three times in the past decade, and stable whispers suggest he could be Nicky Henderson’s ‘next big thing’.

2.00 pm – Singer Arkle Novices’ Chase

A relatively small seven-runner field means the Placepot pool could potentially ‘go large’ if the market principles fail to fire in this novice’s event. Once again, Mullins and Henderson hold the aces with Kopek Des Bordes (Mullins) and Lalamba trading on 6/4 and 13/8, respectively.

The training duo have farmed this race in previous years, producing 11 of the previous 14 winners. With Henderson’s Lalamba being a five-year-old, an age of horse that is 0/17 since 2007, Kopek Des Bordes is the choice here.

Steel Alley, trained by Sam Thomas, is a perfect three-for-three over fences and could certainly run a big race, given he has yet to be truly tested. His current 12/1 odds would almost certainly be shorter if he were from a higher-profile stable.

2.40 pm – McCoy Contractors Juvenile Handicap Hurdle

Producing 80/1, 10/1, 18/1, 9/1 and 17/2 winners in the past five years (seven of the last 14 winners scored at 25/1 or bigger), this four-year-olds only handicap contest is always a difficult race to crack.

22 runners and a 6/1 favourite, which is yet to win a race over hurdles, underlines the task at hand for punters in this two-mile contest. The only stat that does inspire is Joseph O’Brien’s record of winning the race three times since 2019.

His Glen To Glen and Dignam are therefore obvious suggestions, with Harwa, Madness d’Elle and Minno Des Mottes – also trained in Ireland- being other horses recommended as Placepot selections.

3.20 pm – Trustmarque Ultima Handicap Chase

Grand National favourite, Iroko, is top-weight and second favourite for this, the first handicap chase of the season. Only one top-weight has landed the Ultima Chase in 26 years, so preference is for Iroko’s stablemate, Jagwar.

His ample Cheltenham form – racing here on his last four starts with form figures of: 1132 – is a significant plus. Stepping up four furlongs in trip is almost certainly going to work in Jagwar’s favour, and aged seven, plenty of stats point towards his chances.

4.00 pm – The Unibet Champion Hurdle

Previous recent Champion Hurdle winners, Annie Power, Epatante, Honeysuckle and Golden Ace, have all demonstrated how valuable the seven-pound mares’ allowance can be in this contest. Three mares, including defending champion, Golden Ace, are in this year’s field.

Lossiemouth, winner of the Mares Hurdle at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, tops the early betting. Detractors will point out that she has plenty of miles on her clock, but 13 wins (10 in Grade-1 company) and three seconds from 17 career starts cannot be argued with.

Brighterdaysahead has a verdict over Lossiemouth; however, that victory came on heavy going. The third mare in the field, Golden Ace, tends to win when her rivals fall, and, overall, she has something to find on figures.

Indeed, The New Lion fell on his penultimate start (in a race won by Golden Ace) but is unbeaten in all other career starts. Owned by JP McManus, who has an excellent record in the race, with a clear round, the British-trained runner should stake a serious claim on this coveted title.

4.40 pm – Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase

23 handicapped runners aged between seven and twelve means this race strongly resembles a bingo card (which traditionally has 24 numbered spaces). Finding the winner may prove as difficult as landing a full house, but there are some historical form pointers punters can consider.

Since 1987, just two winners have carried more than 11 stone 4 pounds to victory. It suggests the top six in this year’s weights can be ignored. Intriguingly, the last seven winners of the Sun Racing Plate Handicap Chase had scored at Cheltenham earlier in the season.

This leads punters to just one horse – the Henry De Bromhead-trained Zurich – as he is the only runner in the field that fulfils these criteria! The seven-year-old has been strongly supported in recent days and is now 10/1, having been 33/1 a week ago.

5.20 pm – The National Hunt Challenge Cup Novices’ Handicap Chase

Given that this race, now named in honour of the Princess Royal, was formerly restricted to amateur jockeys, historical form should be taken with a small pinch of salt. Despite always attracting big fields – 17 runners this year – the biggest priced winner of this marathon event since 2020 has been 7/2.

Irish runners have an outstanding record and, over the past 20 years, seven-year-olds have won as many Challenge Cup renewals as horses of all other ages. Using these parameters, Iceberg Theory is the choice. Paul Nolan’s charge has won two of his three chase starts, and this trip looks tailor-made.

How Can I Watch the Cheltenham Festival?

The first six races of each of the 2026 Cheltenham Festival’s race days will be broadcast live on ITV 1 and streamed live on ITVX. Subscription channel, Racing TV, will broadcast all seven daily races live.

The UK’s best online bookmaking sites will stream live festival race action to customers who place a qualifying bet. Promotional new customer sign-up offers and Cheltenham free bet offers will also be commonplace amongst these betting sites during jump racing’s biggest week.